I.M. Pei, Louvre pyramid architect, is dead at 102

NEW YORK – APRIL 21: Architect I.M. Pei Speaks after being honored with an Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards at the Ellis Island Museum, April 21, 2004 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)

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I.M. Pei, world-renowned Chinese-American architect has died. He was 102.

His son Li Chung Pei told The New York Times on Thursday that his father had died overnight.

While Pei’s most known works include the Louvre’s glass pyramid and the John F. Kennedy Library, he also has an Oklahoma connection.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the “Pei Plan” was an initiative to bring urban redevelopment to Oklahoma City.

Pei was commissioned to rid downtown of old buildings and bring in new parking, office buildings, and retail.

The Pei Plan brought iconic and infamous buildings to Oklahoma City, such as the Myriad Botanical Gardens and the Alfred P. Murrah Building.

However, preservationists still mourn the loss of buildings, such as the original Criterion Theatre and the Biltmore Hotel, that were lost to the redevelopment.

Pei’s created a 10-by-12-foot model showing how downtown might look in 1989 after the program’s completion.

The miniature Pei Plan model has been preserved by the Oklahoma Historical Society and was put on public display at the Cox Convention Center in 2010.